WELCOME TO VETERANS AT FORT SMITH.
Editor Williams, of the Fort Smith, Ark., Times, gave out this welt ome at the late reunion of that city : Welcome, Veterans! United Confederate Veterans, w eli ome ' Thrice welcome, seven times welcome — yea. a thousand times welcome to the Border City. Wc are of you and with you, and (lotl being our helper, we shall stand by you. The political questions that made it necessary for the Southern soldier to prove himself worthy of the name and fame of his patriotic ancestry wore settled in a soldierly way, and when settled, were settled for- ever: and that settlement was the deliverance we cel- ebrate. Vour four years of service under the stars and liars shed new luster upon our common country; and whether on the driven march or in the tented field, in the hour of victory or in sore defeat, your re. ord adds new splendor to American .history. The Southern soldier challenges the world for a milder achievement upon the battlefield. Oak Hills ami l-'lk Horn. Pea Kidge and I'rairie drove, Poiso- Springs and the Post of Arkansas— fields of carnage made sacred by the Mood of as brave a soldier as ever, dealt death at Thermopylae, or bore a polished spear for Sparta. Back in the homes you fought for were the tremu- lous hands that lilessed your heads, the motherly lips that bade von he brave and trust in heaven, the loving arms and tearful eyes that told you to do your duty and leave the rest to ( !od. How noblv vim did that duty all the world knows. In marble and bronze posterity shall read it, and tongues tipped with lire from the altar of all that is pure and holy, shall tell it to the ages to come, am! when the everlasting stream of time shall reach the great ocean of eternity's wealth, the character of the Southern soldier will tower grandly above all that linds lodgement there. In the days of your youthful- vigor, when the eye was clear and the sinews strong and supple, with swelling hearts and blushing pride you donned the sombre gray. In your later years you have put on another gray of whiter hue Worn and weary the world hears heavily on you. Bent and tired you pick your doubtful way. No grateful government helps to hear your burden. No monthly pension aids your tottering steps. No place of profit is set apart for vour easement. No exemption from the general load is vours. But you have the proud consciousness of duty nobly done, and the blessings of that line of patriots of which Washington was one, Jeff Davis an- other, and Lee and Jackson a sainted two. The divine right of kin^s passed awav with cruel despotism, but the divine blood of American patriots (lows on forever, and you, Confederate Veterans, are in the line of noble succession ; and all the winds and all the waters of this wicked world cannot deprive you of one atom of your glorious heritage. By the quips of fortune, and thClove that lingers one for another of those who worshipped at a common shrine and resigned themselves t» a common sorrow, you have come together in our city, in the name of whose people of all creeds we welcome you. In their business and social relations the people of Fort Smith know neither politics nor religion, but in their love of country they believe the cause of good government . best subserved where .the people worship according to the dictates of their conscience, and celebrate freely the anniversaries of the .lavs they love. Sin lies not in pleasure but in excess. 'Fort Smith swings all her gates open to you. On the vine there is vet a cluster,
- ' n ' "» the fig tree Mill hangs some luscious fruit.
Make yourselves comfortabte. He freeandeasy; and if in need of help sound the revielle— a city is at vour service. KENTUCKY STATE GUARD WAR SOKG. lain^ forth the flag, Kentucky's noble standard. , > Wa e .1 ... high tui II,.. wind shakes each fold .mi ; ■))■■. dly ii floats, nobly waving In the van-guard, Then cheer up. boys, cheer, with a lusty, long bold snout. l Hums : Cheer, boys, cheer, we'll march away to hattle— cheer, buys, cheer, for our sweethearts and mir wives— i heer, boys, cheer, we'll nobly do our duly, Ami give Kentucky our hearts, our arms, our lives. Although we marc' with heads all lowly hen. line. Let us Implore a blessing from on high ; (Hi. 'use is just, the right from wrong defending, Anil I he Coil of battled will listen to our cry.— Uho. Though to our homes we never may return, Ne'er press again our loved ones in our arms— I Cer our lone graves their faithful hearts will mourn, Then cheer up. hoys, cheer, such death has ilnims. . n<>. s.e. hoys, sec. the thunder clou. is before us. Hear tin- loud crash of musketry and gun Bring forth the tlaa and proudly wave It o'er us— Then cheer up. hoys, cheer, for the victory Is won I ho. Note.— Sung in the "Camps" of the First Kentucky Itrigade Ii fantry durtngthe war, 1801 (15, and since reprinted for Charles Herbal who was of/the Second Kentucky Infantry. MRU. M. IK PI fill's APPEAL. The Ladies' Memorial Association, which rocked tin cradle of the Confederacy at Montgomery, and hr ever maintained an active life, has had two Presidents the late venerable widow of Judge Benijah Bibb, am their daughter, Mrs. M. 1 >. Bibb, a worthy suceessot The latter, in connection with a programme for an en- tertainment in behalf of the Davis Monument, wrote,,' We earnestly appeal to the patriotic people of the city and country, old men and matrons, young men and maidens, to unite with us in rendering this occa- sion a most brilliant success. Surely a cause which called into action all that was noble in human nature, lofty patriotism and sublime courage, self-sacrificing devotion and heroic endurance, commands the grate- ful homage of every Southern heart. Could we make i e fitting offering than to build a monument to the illustrious chieftain, in whom was concentrated all these irtucs, and who was made a vicarious sacri- fice upon the altar of the Confederacy? We trust that Montgomery, the fi'st capital of the nation whose brief existence tills the most brilliant and pathetic page in history, will prove true to her noble birthright, and render tribute to the hero and statesman, whom the world will yet claim as one of the grandest and best of the sons of men. May we not hope that the gallant men and noble women of our city will supplement the efforts of the Ladies' Memorial Association in making an offering worthy of n cause so great, by their generous patron- age a pc hi 'ring presence.
